


The Soulmate Clock

by GalacticSoul



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Pre-Kerberos Mission, SHIDGE, ShiroxPidge, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Soulmates, soulmate clock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 19:17:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13688082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalacticSoul/pseuds/GalacticSoul
Summary: When he was younger, he'd use the ticker on his wrist for what all kids did- a watch, a competition, an object to fiddle with when bored. He'd been so fascinated with the mystery, wondering who in the universe could fit so perfectly to himself. He'd painted his room the same green as the clock, collected flowers and leaves that matched with the fascinating device. As he grew, the room was painted a different color and his mother stopped putting flowers in plastic cups and into pages of books to save. The whole soulmate situation wasn't one of his priorities until the last few months, and he hadn't given it much thought until the last week.-----In all truth, Katie spent the previous night twisting and turning in her sheets, anxiousness creeping in her throat and thumbs flickering across her phone's screen as she searched the internet. The keywords and hashtags 'soulmate meeting' and 'about to meet soulmate' hosted thousands of results, varying from videos to text-posts to entire blogs dedicated to the subject. Katie supposed it was easier this way, but her head always betrayed her, second thoughts and self doubts snatching the girl by the shoulders.





	The Soulmate Clock

**Author's Note:**

> AHHHH HAPPY VALENTINES DAY  
> And This is my Shidge Exchange gift to Kalelarga on Tumblr! I've had the privledge of writing for them before on aforementioned website, and it was fun to do it again! Now, the email got accidentally deleted, but what I dinstinctly remember are the keywords 'Fated meetings' and 'Pre Kerberos', so heRE WE GO

_3 hrs 10 min 32 sec_

Katie stared anxiously down at the silently ticking timer attached to her arm, the flipping of purple-tinted numbers far more entertaining in comparison to the tugging on her matted, tangled hair from a wide tooth comb behind her and what was consuming her brain. Her mother huffed a breathy laugh to herself, pulling curls back from her daughter's ears and yanking them through the comb as she marveled at the absolute mess of a project her daughter had thrown before her only minuets earlier.

"Goodness, Kitty, what did you do to tangle your mane this much?" Came the gentle, methodic voice from her parent, somewhat rhetorical, somewhat curious.

In all truth, Katie spent the previous night twisting and turning in her sheets, anxiousness creeping in her throat and thumbs flickering across her phone's screen as she searched the internet. The keywords and hashtags ' _soulmate meeting_ ' and ' _about to meet soulmate_ ' hosted thousands of results, varying from videos to text-posts to entire blogs dedicated to the subject. The soulmate clock was such a big chunk of normal life, what with everyone around constantly finding the one for them or fretting about it or talking about when they did; Katie supposed it was easier this way, no use wasting love on someone who isn't perfect for you, but her head always betrayed her, second thoughts and self doubts snatching the girl by the shoulders.

What if she didn't live up to her 'One's' expectations? What if they were secretly some sort of awful person that she had try _to heal for the rest of her life? What iF-_

Katie had reassured herself (or at least attempted to) with the fact that her father and brother had already identified the candidate, and it just so happened that they were the pilot on the interstellar journey the two of them were to attend just the next day. The pair of Holt men apparently figured it out when they'd planned for him to come for dinner the day prior to the launch, which just so happened to be the day both they and Katie were to meet their soulmates. Or each other, it turned out, as it was the identical hours, minuets, and seconds planted on their wrists', to the surprise of both Samuel and Matt. The two had sworn to her that the pilot, someone named Takashi Shirogane, was an astounding person of excellent character who she would truly love (Though with all of the gushing the Garrison did over their prized possession, she'd nearly thought it would be the institution who was the pilot's other half.).

But, of course, anxiety is a raging bitch and can never let anything happen without trying to decompose the brain.

"I guess I just slept rough," She gave a sheepish shrug, dropping her wrist into her lap as her mother continued tugging, clock and rubberbands colliding. "I've heard so much about this 'Shiro' guy, I'm kinda worried."

The figure behind her stopped suddenly, sighing with a slow exhale, tossing the comb onto the nearby bed and revolving around Katie to meet her face-to-face, chartreuse pajama pants brushing thin, pale knees. Colleen wiggled in between the vanity and her daughter's knees, a ticking clock scraping against a silent, greying one as their hands intertwined.

"I'm not like everyone else, Katie, I can tell when you lie." She offered a look, that of which was as warm as the color in her irises. Pink lips twisted up in a sympathetic smile, lines creasing across her features from years of use. "Though I'm not happy you stayed up all night, I know you couldn't help it."

Katie, because of this 'seeing through all of your lies' superpower that Colleen Holt owned, she swore her mother was an alien.

Perhaps her father and brother would travel to her homeplanet the next day.

"It's perfectly normal to be anxious. You know what happened when I first met your father, don't you?"

Katie chewed her chapped bottom lip, knowing where this story and lesson was heading off to by its suggestion to be told. Instead of making some sort of comment or telling the story for herself as she often did to speed things along, she simply shrugged; she wouldn't mind hearing this story again, at least for today.

Maybe, she prayed, it would help.

"I wasn't even two years older than you, studying one night when I realized that I'd be an absolute mess in front of whoever was destined for me if i didn't pick out an outfit or do my hair. I spent hours trying to look half decent for the next day in between trying to study for exams, so I didn't fall asleep until early in the morning. Then I bumped into your father at the nearby coffee shop the next morning." Colleen grinned, eyes fluttering shut as she relived some memory that came into being ages ago.

The younger laughed in the form of a harsh exhale, gaze dropping into their joined hands and pressed purple and grey soulmate clocks. The story had been told and retold so many times that it was common known information for everyone who knew the family.

The sky was blue. Birds sang. Her mother met her father at a coffee shop.

"But there's something I didn't tell you, and it's why I'm helping you right now." Colleen flushed, smiling crookedly. "When I met your father, I was wearing sweatpants, my hair was a rats' nest, I had bags under my eyes, and I poured coffee on his new laptop and burned him."

A loud giggle escaped suddenly out of her lips, Katie having to slap her palm over them to keep quite. Was she serious? Her mother was the definition of grace, walking and navigating silently and steadily with actions that felt smooth even from a glance. Even the deathtraps called high-heels couldn't affect her, so how was someone so elegant able to do something so remarkably, for the lack of a better term, _Katie-like_?

"You're kidding me." She stated bluntly, receiving a shake of short, blonde hair as a response. Colleen was still tinted pink, but she shrugged her shoulders and kept the gaze.

"I looked like a raccoon. Dark circles and everything, sweetie." She bent back up, retrieving the comb as Katie gave a snort at the somewhat unbelievable notion. Then came the return of the twisting and tugging of her golden locks, with her mind somewhat distracted with thoughts of her mother in the same silly situation she was currently in.

"Besides, I bet he's just as nervous to meet you."

* * *

 " _Don't be nervous_ ," Came the male voice over the phone, chalk full of pride and what sounded like tears. The owner of the device tapped his blunt fingertips across the smooth surface, rubbing the bridge of his nose with the other hand. He'd already betrayed the advice the speaker gave to him, crossing the line of being nervous, stumbling across stressed out, and began to tread on mental shut-down territory.

Shiro grasped at the stark grey uniform shirt's hem, kneading it with his free hand. "I'm not," He told himself firmly, attempting to convince himself the statement, calming his pacing though his head was anything but. "Besides, she comes from the Holt family that I take tomorrow, and they're all nice people."

' _Nice_ ' was a blunt, dry word when it came to this family. The father, Sam, was an incredibly understanding instructor and a true Einstein. He'd stay after class, sometimes hours at once, explaining and explaining and assisting Shiro with whatever sort of thing he needed help with, and solving what appeared to be the impossible in a matter of seconds. The mother who'd he'd only met a few times reminded him of his own, as well as being the standard southern nuclear mother of two. The offers for one more serving of food or something to go home with or a scolding that she never really meant. The son, a good friend of his, wasn't much different, with the exception of being a complete dork. No, Matt was sliding his feet into his father's shoes, mind just as quick, absorbent, and heart equally as soft. Need a ride? Matt's suddenly got a truck. Missing a textbook? The Holt son has twelve under his mattress and test questions are color coordinated.

Soulmate clock ticking down? A week before the launch of an interstellar trip you're about to take him and his father on, he figures out your soulmate is his sister and she's apparently _astounding_.

He'd seen the girl- Katie was her name- in the photographs that Matt had shown him countless times. A tiny girl, hardly fifteen to his eighteen, with a short button nose, bronze curls that flittered down to her waist, and a pair of curious, sparkling eyes that immediately grabbed his attention. Shiro had collected numerous tidbits of information from his roommate about his sister, as well, what with Matt's constant gushing over his sibling. The ' _She's so damn smart_ 's, ' _She's gonna do great things'_ s, and the ' _You'd love her_ 's came in an endless, repetitive flow with other praises about this stranger.

Though, Shiro supposed after this day was over, he'd be uttering the same phrases as well.

Keith, an old friend who came close to being a brother, laughed from across the room where he sat, his arms akimbo and head bent over as he attempted to keep his voice down. The off-campus family home was currently empty except for the pair of teenagers, yet the voice of the pair that owned the residence echoed from Shiro's phone. Both adults were hurriedly traveling their son's way, though being behind of schedule, they'd both left him more voicemails than he could count on one hand. The pair were doing their best to aid their son with his upcoming romantic event, offering words of the advice they'd used and had heard from countless others.

Shiro appreciated the effort, he really did, but their, or at least his father's, advice wasn't reaching him.

"You know that one of the symptoms of insanity is talking to yourself, right?" The other in the house offered, the red sweater he constantly wore lifting up as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Did you look at Wikipedia or something?" Shiro didn't bother to see the smile he could hear through his words, instead momentarily pulling the phone from where it rested on his temple and batted his eyes shut as he responded.

"I'm surprised you haven't met her earlier. Isn't their house only fifteen minuets from here?" Keith questioned, and it was something Shiro had considered before. He'd even been over at the Holt's residence a number of times for dinner, yet the young girl would always be off at some sort of event the Garrison high school would be holding or doing something with her brother. Apparently, they were only to meet once before he shot both her father and brother off into space.

Which was another worry of Shiro's concerning Katie- Pidge? Kathrine? Kaylen? Matt called her a multitude of nicknames, which was real?- was that he would leave the next day and be gone for at least a year. Not a great start to a relationship, at least in his opinion. That added on to a growing collection of subjects that concerned the pilot, which would soon be growing longer if he didn't stop panicking. She came from a prestigious and well accomplished home, was probably twice as smart as him, cute, and at this point, would be a defender of the universe.

After a moment of silence, his thoughts were interrupted with, "How long do you have left?"

Shiro glanced at his wrist.

_2 hrs 29 min 22 sec_

Shiro hiccupped rather loudly, the noise echoing both through the house and into the phone. There was shifting and tossing at the other side of the device, presumably someone else grasping their own. The second he slapped his free hand over his mouth was the moment both Keith burst into giggles and his mother's voice rushed into his ear, her accent thick and tone concerned.

" _You'll be fine, Takashi, this I know, but this doesn't mean I won't worry. And trust me, you are not going to die._ "

"Two hours. Two and a half hours until I meet my soulmate. Keith, _I'm going to die_."

* * *

"I'm going to die."

The statement was muffled against the freezing countertop, but Matt translated it all the same. He gave a slight smile, turning his head to see Katie's face pressed against the slab of marble with loose, golden curls flattened against it, encircling her head. A low, pitiful groan echoed through out the kitchen, yet Matt continued his task of rapidly dicing potatoes.

"Pidge, you know how Mom feels about finding hair in our food, especially _yours_." He smirked, immediately receiving a measly wave of a hand as response.

"It won't matter after this soulmate thing kills me. I'll bury my hairbrush in the salad, just to make a statement." The mass of golden hair rose, parting the curly sea surrounding her face and resting her elbows below her. The lavender and white dress she now adorned fluttered about as she crossed one ankle over the other, tickling Katie's shins and reminding her just how uncomfortable she actually was in the moment, in the whole situation. "I know you said Shiro's really nice and all, but that's what I'm worried about."

The knife went down, an eyebrow up. "You're worried about him being _nice_?"

"I'm worried about him being too nice. Like, I know I'm rude, and I know I'm lazy, and from what you've said, Shiro is the exact opposite. So, what if I'm super awful? What if he's disappointed when he meets me, like he expected something different? Wait, what _does he expect of me_ -"

Matt grabbed her shoulder with one hand, clasping her mouth shut with the other. He shook her back and forth with each following word, bronze eyes closed and eyebrows nearly up to his hairline. " _Stop. Stressing. About. Things. That. Will. Work. Out._ You and Shiro are soulmates because you're made to perfectly compliment each other. So if you're lazy, he'll either pick up all your crap and make you un-lazy, or he'll watch Netflix with you all day, and you'll both wallow in laziness together. _Either way_ , you both win and get a life-long companion out of it."

Ignoring the fact that 'un-lazy' was a term Matt invented, Katie knew he was right. These things, no matter how the balance of probability desired to weigh in or how simple logic wanted to interfere, worked themselves out, no matter how her science-based brain tried to solve the situation. Both of the scenarios her brother invented sounded enjoyable, though she would never admit imagining being all _'lovey-dovey'_ with someone, let alone her sibling's best friend.

The relation to Shiro without the soulmate factor was strange and cliché enough as it was.

"Thanks, Matt. That actually helped a little bit." The brunette brushed off his hands, straightening her sleeves where the appendages previously were. While the outlook Matt presented was completely accurate, Shiro's reputation was still standing so tall she could drown in his shadow. He was the Garrison's Golden Boy, graduating from the off-campus high school early, zooming through his pilot and astrophysics courses, all while being incredibly nice, athletic, and somehow attractive all at the same time. Sure, her parents had crafted a legacy that would become unbreakable after the Kerberos mission, but this stranger whom her entire family loved was seemingly leaving one of his own.

Her brother must've sensed the whole conundrum still bubbling inside of her, because after a firm glance from his rust colored eyes with his mouth scrunched up, Matt folded his arms and leaned back against the kitchen counter.

"He's a total nerd, by the way."

She made a face, eyebrows forcing her to squint. The fact, if possible, would indeed give the two something in common, but the description didn't fit. "You and Dad said he was perfect. How's the adjective 'nerd' included in that?"

"Well, _English Major_ , he watches '80's cartoons. You know, like Transformers, He-Man, and Ninja Turtles," Matt paused- he had to in order not to choke at the instant wide-eyed look his sister gave him, jaw dropped. "And once we missed class 'cause we marathoned Star Wars until three in the morning."

With a sharp inhale and what sounded like a choking sound to both, Katie's composure realigned, ginger eyes squinted. So it was true. Her mind throwing the idea around, still not comprehending it, her brother answered her next, unspoken question: "Prequels too."

Painted rose lips peeled back, honey gold eyes crinkled at the corners as her hands locked into her elbows. "You're right. He's a nerd. And in," She glanced at her wrist, "About an hour and forty minuets, I'll use the fact that a self-described 'non-nerd' such as yourself hangs out with someone that 'isn't your kind' against you."

"Wait, K _atiedon't_ -"

* * *

 The next hour and thirty minuets were filled with Katie throwing herself against random objects (i.e. counters, the sofa, the family dog, her family) and Shiro burying his hands both in his ink-blot forelock and his eyes. The purple and green tinted numbers flipped with a speedily repentance, the sands of time slipping through both hands' no matter the stifled groans and sighs they gave. Katie continued with the dinner preparations as her schedule, as well her parents', demanded, with her undiscovered counterpart preparing over and over for the occasion, preparing and rehearsing salutations while Keith mock-graded his attempts.

So while the Soulmate clocks ticked on and warmth overcame over the sea blue sky, time began to scramble wildly forward, with numbers flipping seemingly quicker to the two. With less than thirty minuets in between Shiro meeting Katie and their current position, Keith sent himself off, the Holt family took their seats for the upcoming event, and Shiro began making his way over to the family's house.

* * *

 The evenly spaced, suburb-like homes owned by the Garrison nearly blended together in Shiro's mind as he strolled down the street, his hands in the pockets of his uniform slacks. The only difference to the Holt home that he could remember was the fact that lights poured out of its windows' until the depth of the night, wild flowers consumed the lawn, and the family inside was the most intelligent and one of the kindest he'd ever had the pleasure of knowing.

He took his time getting over there, waving 'hello' to the neighbors that smiled or stumbled over to the pilot, the few that came over patting him on the back or congratulating him for both that day and the next, then returning to water their bushes or watch after their children or grandchildren. It delayed him quite a bit, though Shiro tried his best to not stare at the lime tinted object on his wrist and to pay more attention to those before him. The patient smiles quickly receded to his teeth kneading on his bottom lip, steps slow as he navigated the neighborhood.

_28 min 58 sec_

* * *

"Why is there suddenly no one in this house?" Katie's voice carried her semi-sarcastic, semi-frustrated voice carried through both stories the her house, though there was no response from the other three (four if you counted Bae Bae, the family dog) family members.

Not a word.

Dinner was close to being ready, what with her brother insisting she was still entitled to her assigned chore no matter the day and still somehow half decent tasting through she'd burned dinner rolls twice in one day and had, though it was only a joke ealier, missed the salad bowl with her hairbrush by only a few inches. The table was set, plates and cultery arranged in the way Colleen Holt had taught both of her children, napkins folded into triangles and empty glasses illuminating the table with the tangerine sunlight they reflected. Dust danced about in the air, waving around the empty setting in preperation for its guest.

Katie never thought she'd related to particles in the air so much.

_17 min 20 sec_

* * *

The house was in sight.

Sweat threatened to fall down his forehead, Shiro having to to trap his hair atop his head. His heart beat in his throat and inside his ears, every step prolonged as much as it could possibly be.

 _9 min_ _7 sec_

* * *

More pacing. More gripping of golden hair. More biting of glossed lips. The others finally came down, talking amongst themselves at the table as she tugged on her hair in the kitchen.

_2 min 33 sec_

* * *

His index finger was stretched right over the doorbell, metallic eyes clamped shut as he let out a low, breathy sigh.

This was it.

In the last thirty seconds of being without a significant other, he reflected on his time being alone. When he was younger, he'd use the ticker on his wrist for what all kids did- a watch, a competition, an object to fiddle with when bored. He'd been so fascinated with the mystery, wondering who in the universe could fit so perfectly to himself. He'd painted his room the same green as the clock, collected flowers and leaves that matched with the fascinating device. As he grew, the room was painted a different color and his mother stopped putting flowers in plastic cups and into pages of books to save. The whole soulmate situation wasn't one of his priorities until the last few months, and he hadn't given it much thought until the last week.

Shiro wondered what the future would hold after the mission. Would he and Katie move into a house at the end of the street? Would they have children? Would-

_Ding!_

He retracted his finger as quick as he could from the doorbell, startling himself enough to tear through his thoughts and force him to realize he'd accidentally pressed it.

Takashi gave one last glance at the green soulmate clock, reading it in its entirety.

_00 yrs 000 days 00 hrs 00 min 19 sec_

"Coming!"

* * *

 Katie's job in the family was to wash dishes, do the laundry, and open the door when the doorbell rang. The response she screamed when the noise echoed throughout the Holt residence was automatic, as was the instant shuffling out of the kitchen and away from the dining room. Katie's breath stopped as her hand finally clung around the freezing metal doorknob, the off-white, faded colored window allowing her to see the familiar grey uniform of the Garrison Pilots, a blotch of tan skin, and jet black, fluffy hair.

She swallowed hard, heart consuming every other sound in the universe. Every synapse in her head wailed that she wasn't ready, that this wouldn't work out, that this just couldn't happen, but with a glance at her purple soulmate clock, she batted her eyes shut, stepped back, and swung the door open.

* * *

Oh no.

The figure standing in the doorway was _Katie_?

 _That_ was the girl in the photographs?

Katie Holt was only as tall as his shoulders, with wild, golden waves of curls that twisted and shifted to the small of her back, its only restraint being a thin, lilac headband that was ready to snap. A color coordinated, a Holt thing, apparently, dress scraped the bottom of her kneecaps, a large white stripe reach her collarbones. Rubberbands and bracelets stacked up on her thin, boney wrists, either owning wisps of golden locks or the Garrison High logo. Freckles, both large and small, littered her nose and cheeks like paint splatters, some sort of rouge or blush or sheer embarrassment tinting both features the exact shade of bright salmon.

The pictures didn't pull any of that together, nor did it do any sort of justice to her eyes.

Bright. Warm. Homely.

Wide, almond shaped eyes that glittered the shades of glitter that the sun cast and the medals uniforms were dipped into. They divided and rose in the uneven patterns of her irises', pupils near microscopic as she stared up at him. Before, they did gain his attention, but now they demanded it, forcing Shiro to give every ounce of thought to the pair of sunsets his- Lord, _his_ \- soulmate his away under her purple shaded eyelids.

"H-Hi," Was all the man could sputter out as the girl looked up at him.

* * *

When her father and brother both told her Takashi Shirogane was her soulmate, she'd never given a mass amount of consideration to his appearance, only his reputation. Though he was, on multiple accounts from all her classmates, entirely attractive, she'd never find how much depth their words had.

Shallow. Ankle-deep words that could've been meaningless.

He stood nearly a foot above her, with a wide, muscular frame and shoulders near as broad as she was tall. The Garrison Pilot dresscode must've been molded after Shiro's image, as every usually awkward crease or fold was smoothed out and was tailored to perfection. The ink-blot of fluff she'd seen seconds ago hung inbetween his iron eyes, which glowed with an energetic electricity that left Katie noiselessly babbling. Dark red pooled underneath his skin, a heavy blush reaching from the tips of her ears to the center of his nose. His jaw was square, cheekbones sharp enough she bet they would slice her fingertips.

Was this even a _human being_?

"Hey," Her voice was suddenly lost. "So, um, you're Shiro?"

* * *

He blinked. _Shiro?_ What was- _his name. Right._

"Yeah." He laughed breathlessly, a heavy weight on his chest as she blinked at him with an inhuman gaze. "That's-that's me. So you must be Katie, right?"

She gave a numb nod, teeth sinking into her bottom lip. She chuckled nervously, Shiro's heart fluttering like he was in some sort of book, while she responded with, "Yuup. Matt's little sister. I'm sure you've already heard a lot from him, by the way he constantly chatters."

"So we're on the same page about your brother," Shiro slid his hands back in his pockets, reveling in the cheesy grin she formed moments after. Curls spilled over her shoulders as her head bent down, the youngest Holt nodding again, eyes bright as she gave a silent agree to his statement. The soulmates stood on the doorstep of the house, both bubbling with nerves and quiet attraction that they had no idea to do with, instead piling the two into twisting the doorknob and twiddling thumbs in pockets. Shiro and Katie still pink and grinning like the perfect pair of idiots that they were, near jumped as Samuel Holt leaned into the doorway.

"So I see you've two met, hmm?"


End file.
